Quite so , Walt . Totally innocent fun . Variations on the theme could be found among all walks of life until conscription ceased , stopping people getting a free education and lessons in how to behave .
But , back to rivet counting and its partner “my railway is best” , the best being referred to is the prototype .
So along you go to the Model Railway Club with your correctly riveted masterpiece to be sneeringly told that it is not a model of the Great Western Railway , so is not even worth considering .
Or , don’t bring your smelly diesels here , pal , this is a steam club (though it does go under the title "model rail club)
Or even “Wotcha wanna build THAT for , this is a model rail club , not model big rigs , even if it does have a rail logo on it” .
No , the sad thing is you cannot do right by everyone , especially he who never shows you his models . Because he doesn’t make them for real , only in his tiny mind .
Ah , well , back to my rivet punch and magnifying glass .
Must get the chequer plate right this time .
I have just remembered a true story that happened at a factory that I slaved in .
We had to explain to a young lady who had been shocked by being asked to get a Bastard File . She eventually thought all these naughty names were perhaps right so on going to the tool store next time , she asked for a file .
“Do you want a big bastard” says storeman
“no , a little f…ker will be fine , thanks” she said .
You know what’s really funny, to me at least? The Bachmann K-27’s are described as having “road pilots” or “switcher pilots,” and the tenders are described as having “road steps” or “switcher steps” on the rear ends. Unfortunately, Bachmann got them mixed up. What they describe as a “road step” goes all the way across, when in reality, it should be the “two steps” version. The “switcher steps” should go all the way across, under the coupler, but their version is the “two steps” variety. Totally backwards.
Now, I know some folks are going to study pictures, and their K-27’s to see if it’s true, but it’s easy to verify, just check the “Mudhens” book. There weren’t many pics of the rears of tenders in that book, but it’s obvious from the few that there are that they’re all wrong.
LOL! Robert
I had several young seamen and firemen knock on my Sick Bay door, looking for “Fallopian Tubes.”
I would tell them they had to get a supply request signed by the Skipper, before I could release them. That’s how they would meet the CO. 
The best one that I ever heard was a guy looking for a “bucket of steam.” And that was on a gas turbine ship. :lol:
In the Army, we would send them after Grid Squares, muzzle wash, or flight line from the heliport. Or rotor wash. And occassionally we’d send them to check the air pressure in the road wheels on a tracked vehicle. I’ll bet you didn’t know they always put the valve stems on the inside so they didn’t get shot, did you?
Robert
I remember when they sent me to get a bucket of steam. I also remember when I came back with it and told them to be careful it was still hot.
what i did was get some plastic wrap from the gally and boiling water and put it in the bucket and headed back. The look on there face was worth the trouble.
I remember when I went hunting the first time and in camp that night they told me we were going to out and get a wumpus. Gave me a gunny sack and told me to head to the end of the trail and wait, they would beat the bushes and drive it to me. I knew what was going on though. I found a short branch with a bunch of leave on it and a couple of rocks. Put the rocks and the leafy end of the branch in the sack. Came running back into camp screaming I got it! Had the bag just a swaying and making racket. I’ve never seen grown men move so fast. I never have let them live that one down…
They sell rivet counters at Micro-Mark, don’t they? 
I never got sent on any on-the-job “snipe hunts” myself, but my dad told me about being sent to get a “left handed wrench” at one of his first jobs.
Another one was when someone would say, “Go get me a Henway”.
“What’s a Henway?” “About three pounds.”
As a fireman apprentice, I got sent all over the Carrier looking for a pack of “Gland Seal”.
(Gland sealing steam exhausts from around the main bearings on a steam turbine to keep the contaminants out of the bearings)
That lad who was sent for the bucket of steam, found some dry ice, put that in the bucket, then added a bit of water just before he returned to the Central Control Station.
I’m told that it was quite a realistic effect.
As an aircraft mechanic, we sent the new guys to the tool crib for a bucket of prop wash.
i was sent to get a number 32 key to adjust the radarscreen.
they had their fun.
Funny? I HAVE a “left handed” monkey wrench here someplace – the adjusting screw is cut backwards (to get around somebody’s patent?) – thing is a pain in the butt because you always forget.
Makes an OK hammer, or paperweight tho.
I know many large scalers have storage problems. They are easily solved by the use of ‘sky hooks’.
I was sent down off the roof, when I was a 15 year old lad, for a tab stretcher because we were not going to have enough shingles to finish the roof.
I work in the printing industry. I was sent to the basement for a bucket of halftone dots and a paper stretcher. I worked in a single story building at the time.
Dennis